


The Jorōgumo

by NebulousMistress



Category: Japanese Mythology, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Monsters, F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 08:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12503248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousMistress/pseuds/NebulousMistress
Summary: The Jorōgumo claims all abandoned places as her own. Atlantis is abandoned. So are her people.





	The Jorōgumo

**Author's Note:**

> Halloween is coming and out come the monster fics. Have I mentioned how much I hate spiders? And what is it with Rodney and Sheppard getting involved? I'm not going to fade to black anymore, next time one of them wants to get eaten I am letting them.

Rodney awoke to the sound of soft beeping. He was sore in places familiar, unfamiliar, and places he would rather not admit in public. But how had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was...

He remembered the beautiful woman, long black hair falling demurely over her dark eyes. He remembered her laugh, tinkling like bells, like drops into pure water. He remembered the feeling of silk all around him, being held like he'd never known before, the feeling of belonging so strong...

Why did he remember someone screaming?

A voice broke him from his thoughts. “Dr. Beckett, he's awake.”

Rodney tried to sit up but he was too tired. He closed his eyes and the infirmary faded from view.

When he awake a second time he wasn't alone.

“Major?” Rodney asked. When did his voice get so fuzzy? What was wrong with him?

“Hey Rodney,” Major Sheppard said. “Elizabeth's on her way.”

Rodney nodded. It seemed important but he didn't remember why.

“What happened down there, McKay?” Sheppard asked.

“I...” Rodney dragged himself to a sitting position. He felt IV lines pull at his skin. Why did his limbs feel so heavy? “I'm not sure,” he admitted. “I had marines with me, didn't I.”

“Yes,” Sheppard said, trying to prompt Rodney into remembering. “You and Dr. Kusanagi, Private Matthews and Airman Smitty. You were exploring one of the outer piers.”

“Yeah,” Rodney said, remembering. The military goons had gotten in the way over and over, always acting like there was some sort of monster out there to defend against. He'd tried to get Kusanagi into a bet over who would shoot themselves in the foot first. “What happened to them?”

“That's what we hoped you could tell us,” Sheppard said. “We found you in an old lab. Matthews and Smitty were...” He trailed off.

“They were... injured?” Rodney asked. “Abducted? They got locked in a closet? What?!”

“They're dead, McKay.”

Rodney looked down at his hands. He **felt** okay but that might just be the drugs. What had they died of? Could he catch it? Hopefully they'd just stepped in the path of a laser or something.

“Matthews and Smitty are dead and Dr. Kusanagi is missing,” Sheppard said. “We found...” He sighed. “You don't want to know what we found.”

“There was a woman,” Rodney said. “She... I don't... John, what if she was...”

Sheppard looked caught between impulses, like he wanted to throttle the information out of Rodney as much as he wanted the man to be all right.

Rodney couldn't say anything else. He just looked down at his hands as he remembered her, her long hair and her hands as she held him too tight, the silken darkness she used to hide his sight as he felt too many legs spinning soft threads around him.

*****

“This seems like a bad plan,” Ford said.

“I have to agree,” Teyla said. “I see little point to this plan. You want us to follow Rodney around now that he has been released from the infirmary.”

Sheppard sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. “Yes,” he said. “Rodney won't say what happened out there. I have two men dead and one scientist missing. Rodney's acting weird.”

Ford snorted.

“Weirder than normal,” Sheppard amended. “Beckett said he's been antsy the past few days and he's been talking in his sleep. Something about a woman.”

“Dr. Kusanagi is a woman,” Teyla said.

“Not those kind of dreams,” Sheppard said.

Ford thought for a moment then gave a cheeky grin.

“Those kinds of dreams,” Sheppard agreed, pointing to Ford.

On the other end of the mess hall Rodney got up, returned his tray to the tray return, and headed out. Sheppard got up and followed, gesturing for the rest of his team to accompany. They followed Rodney past the transporter to the lab. Instead he seemed to be heading out into the outer piers.

Lights faded into darkness, the sconces unlit, the city without power out here. The air stank of water and salt and silt, the floor still wet from the city's rising. Ford brought out a flashlight as they followed Rodney who seemed to know his way even without one. He walked with one hand on the wall, fingertips leaving a silvery trail in the condensation.

And then they were there.

Ford and Teyla gasped but somehow Sheppard knew they would find something like this.

The abandoned lab was draped in silken webbing, sheets of it stretching from floor to ceiling. The webbing hung in tatters where Matthews and Smitty had been found cocooned and sucked dry. He'd never told Rodney they found him just as bound, a snack saved for later.

Now here he was. The woman straddling him kissed him so sweetly, her face hidden by her long black hair. She still held her glasses in one hand as she held him with the other. But that wasn't horrifying. It was the eight arachnoid legs that extended from her back that horrified, especially as he held her close and kissed her with such fervor even while those legs spun the webbing that cocooned him.

She pulled away from him and turned to look at the intruders to her domain. She put her glasses on to see them better.

“Dr. Kusanagi,” Sheppard greeted.

She smiled as her spider legs finished their cocoon. Rodney wiggled as he was lifted and tied securely to the webbing, cocooned for later. “Major Sheppard,” she purred. “I wondered when we'd meet like this.”

“What... is that?” Ford whispered.

Miko stretched her spider legs, filling the lab. She curled her legs around herself, her point made. “I am a jorōgumo and I claim all abandoned places as my own. This is my lab and this is my scientist. And you, Major, are mine, too.”

“Not on my watch,” Sheppard growled.

Miko laughed, a beautiful sound like bells or maybe drops of blood into water. “And why not? We are all abandoned here. City and people and world and galaxy. Earth never expected us to survive. The Ancients never meant to return. The Wraith do not care. We are all abandoned, Major. I lay claim to those abandoned. I can make them feel... wanted...” She stroked a leg down the cocoon that held Rodney trapped. Sheppard did not want to think about the noises that cocoon made as Rodney moaned and writhed.

“I can't let you,” Sheppard said.

“John,” Teyla pleaded.

“Both of you, get out of here,” Sheppard ordered. “Have Elizabeth send flamethrowers. Flood this section of the city. Seal it off! Go!”

“What about you?” Ford demanded.

“Get out of here!” Sheppard shouted as Miko reached for him.

He couldn't leave. He was already caught in her web. The others were too, they just didn't know it yet. He felt legs against his skin as two sets of footsteps disappeared down the corridor, fleeing to the perceived safety of the central spire.

“You belong now,” Miko purred as she began to spin. “You belong to me. Welcome home, John.”

He closed his eyes as he felt the softest silk against his skin.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [tumblr](http://nebulousmistress.tumblr.com/) where you can find a hundred little fanfics I never posted here. Check it out, drop a line, maybe dare me to write something for you.


End file.
